The NBA is the Sports King of Social Media. Heavy is the head that wears that crown. You can’t just let fans post Draft videos on YouTube and call it a day. The Social Media Department had to do something special for the 2014 Draft so they had draft picks “crash” Google Hangouts with fans. The results were mixed, but awesomely awkward as a whole.

Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker both spoke with the same teenage fans. The enthusiasm of the kids seemed to rub off on the top picks, but I wonder why Parker didn’t take more time to break down his footwear plans.

Julius Randle was polite, but had the shortest interaction before trying to move on with his life.

The player that was the most engaged – and who spent the most time hanging out – was Boston’s Marcus Smart. This is a long way from the intense competitor you saw on the court at Oklahoma State. He even had legitimate questions for the fans.

Dante Exum ended up talking to a Spurs fan and a Lakers fan who were both from Australia. Just like any other time three Australians get together, the conversation turned to Vegemite.

Nik Stauskas had some streaming issues which made a normal interaction look like a Key & Peele sketch. The obvious next step for the NBA is to replace between quarter interviews with coaches with between quarter Google Hangouts with coaches. We need to get Gregg Popovich streaming yesterday.

Stephen Douglas

Born and raised in Mid-Southern Upstate New York, Stephen holds a master's degree in public communications. Money well spent? I'd say so. These days he jokes about sports on the Internet. Professionally.